"Chika ..." Celes whimpered.
"I know, girl. I know. Don't worry. I'm sure someone will be able to help him."

It was a clear December day, bitterly cold, as a young man made his way out of the forest and headed down a dirt road in the direction of the city in the clouds. Well, not a city really, he mused. More of a public square, a crossroads, a hub. There was a Pokémon Center there, and a gate, and a few other things, but you couldn't really call it a city. Anyway, that "hub" in the clouds, that was the young man's destination. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch*, the snow underfoot went. *crunch* *crunch* *crunch* as he made his way towards the Pokémon Center.
The young man wore strange gloves for this season, for they weren't winter gloves but what seemed to be a pair of workman's gloves. And in between his gloved hands, he would alternate a strange-looking PokéBall. It was a dark indigo purple on the top half, a paler purple on the bottom half. But strangest of all was not its color but the malevolent aura seeping out through the cracks. As purple as the ball they came from, the shadowy wisps would flicker about, half like flame and half like electricity. The reason the young man wore these gloves was to shield his hands from that shadowy aura. Part of the reason was because his own gut instincts told him that it was dangerous to prolong contact with the ball, but part of the reason was ...

"CHIKA!"

The Chikorita walking alongside her master had rarely taken her eyes off the ball this entire time, affording only the most fleeting of glances to watch where she was going on the road ahead. After a particularly large wisp of the purple energy oozed out of the ball, she must have sensed some sort of evil intent and barked some sort of warning -- perhaps a "DON'T YOU DARE!" -- at the Pokémon inside the strange sphere.

Yes, the young man mused, the other part of the reason why he was wearing these gloves was because Celes had insisted he wear them. He smiled to himself, internally, as he recalled the event. To say that she had not been amused would be an understatement. He had tried to reach out to the Pokémon whose heart seemed so shrouded by darkness, but instead he had only wound up getting hurt. His other Pokémon were not able to like nor trust the newcomer, nor the newcomer them. The young man had thus resorted to trying to bond with the Slowpoke one-on-one, but each time this had ended poorly and only wound up getting Celes, his Chikorita, even more worried and upset. The young man did not typically opt to keep Celes inside of her PokéBall for very long, she preferring to be alongside him, he preferring her company there by his side, but he had begun to place her inside of her PokéBall whenever he resolved to work with Slowpoke. It had been much the same way with Mankey, another problem Pokémon of the young man's. But he didn't want to give up on either of them. And neither Celes nor the other Pokémon on his team had suggested he should give up on Mankey. But Slowpoke ...

Cyrus's left gloved hand had been in his pocket, his right hand holding the ball. It was so cold now, the meat numb, the bones icily aching, that he had to switch hands, tossing the purple PokéBall to his left hand, now out of the pocket, and he thrust his right hand into what he hoped would soon be a warm shelter. "You okay, girl?" he asked, smiling a gentle smile down towards his faithful companion. "Chika," she bluntly replied, as if to say, "I'm fine. -.-" He knew she probably wasn't too fine. Chikorita could handle the snow, sure, but they were Grass-types, after all, and they did not prefer terrain and temperatures such as these. He knew Celes was putting up a strong front. She was probably as numb and achey from the cold as he was, her body heat sapped from outside. He hated to do it, but he could feel the PokéBall already shaking on his belt. Clearly, she did not hate it. She was only too happy to help out. Taking his freezing cold right hand back out of its pocket, he plucked the fourth PokéBall off of his belt and ...

"Torchic!"

... he summoned a tiny orange-red chick before them. Twenty yards ahead of them was a fallen tree. He'd gather some branches and ...

"Wet," he glumly muttered. These branches would do no good. The Pokémon looked crestfallen. More purple energy flowed out between the seams of the PokéBall, crackling silently in the air. "Let's keep going. We're sure to find something we can use further down the road. Torchic, retu--"
"Torchic!"

The Torchic clearly did not want to go back inside her ball either. Had she been any other type -- well, maybe besides the Ice-type -- he might've worried, but seeing as she was a Fire-type, the young man was confident that she could handle these frigid temperatures a bit better than he or his Chikorita could. She was small and still young. He didn't want to leave her out for too long. But since she was protesting like this .... And he remembered the jiggling ball on the belt, too ...

"Okay, Torchic. You can stay out too. But just for a little bit!"
"Torchic chic!" she replied, beaming, her little wings flapping. She scampered ahead, eager to scout out some brush they could use for kindling, eager to help out her friends. Celes saw this and smirked, her face saying, "That Torchic."

* * *

After finding some suitable brush for burning, the young man had pulled it out into the road so that it wouldn't spread and had asked his Torchic to use Ember to kindle it. It worked, and the three friends warmed themselves by the makeshift tiny campfire for a few minutes before it pitifully burnt out. The young man then called Torchic back into her ball, and then he paused for half a second to consider doing the same to Chikorita. She gave him a steely look that said "Don't you even think about it!" and it so warmed his heart that he broke into a smile. Celes smiled back at her trainer, beaming, before a frown and a serious gaze clouded her face as she looked back up at the mysterious PokéBall. It was still emitting a powerful aura and she didn't like the look or feel of it one bit.

The two continued on their way like this until finally they reached the Sky Gate. Passing under its golden arches, they made haste for the Pokémon Center. Both human and Pokémon broke into a trot as they neared the Center, eager to get inside to where it was nice and warm.

"HOOOOoooooooooooooooo!"
"CHIKAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

They happily exhaled, then taking in a deep breath of the warm air here. And then the young man collapsed on the nearest couch. Celes hopped up onto the couch, ambled over to the young man's lap, did a little circle, and snuggled in for a nap. Not even two seconds in and she was out. So too was her trainer. The receptionist came over and placed a blanket over them both, curling it away at the lap so as to not cover the Chikorita's face. And so they slept for several hours.

* * *

"Hello, Cyrus!"
"Hello, Professor."
"So, you made it to the Pokémon Center safe and sound? No worse for the wear, I hope."

The young man -- Cyrus -- was on the videophone with Professor Micklewhite, one of the foremost authorities on the purification of Shadow Pokémon. Cyrus had learned of him through an acquaintance on another adventure, his name passed along to Cyrus when the young man expressed difficulty reaching out to the Slowpoke that had come into his care several months ago. It was from this acquaintance that Cyrus had come to learn that Slowpoke was a Shadow Pokémon, a Pokémon so turned against humans that its very heart has blackened, a malevolent, angry purple-black aura emanating form its body. Cyrus had tried to help the Slowpoke come to trust humans again but his efforts were proving fruitless; in the end, he decided to contact Prof. Micklewhite to seek out the best course of action.

"I've arranged for Alice to meet you at the Pokémon Center. She should be there shortly."
"Alice?" Cyrus asked. "Is that the girl you told me about, the girl who knows the minds and hearts of Slowpoke?"
"That's the one," Prof. Micklewhite confirmed. "What that Slowpoke needs is something I believe only Alice can give it."
"I'm sorry I--"
"Oh, no no no, dear boy! It's not your fault! You tried the very best you could! But sometimes our best just isn't enough, you know?"

Cyrus didn't know what to say to that.

"But you gave it your best shot. And you contacted me, and I contacted Alice, and now, perhaps, that Slowpoke will finally be able to trust people once again."
"Oh, I sure hope so, Professor."
"I know so. So don't you worry!"

After a little bit longer, the conversation came to its natural conclusion, Cyrus bid farewell to the professor, and they ended the video call. The center nurse walked over towards Cyrus. "Your Pokémon are all healed up and ready to go," she said smiling. "Great!" Cyrus said, rising from his seat to see. There were five PokéBalls in the tray and--

"This little one absolutely refused to stay inside her ball," the nurse said, looking quite embarrassed.
"Chika!" pouted one energetic little Chikorita as she smiled at her trainer.
"Yeah, sorry about that, but she really hates being stuck inside her--"
"We quite understand," the nurse smiled. "We get it a lot, more than you'd think."

Suddenly, Cyrus's Pokégear rang. Cyrus offered an apology to the nurse as he retrieved his phone from his pocket. She waved her hand at him saying "Don't be!" and she headed back to her station as Cyrus flipped the lid and--

"CYRUS! WHERE ARE YOU, MAN!?"
"Jericho, I--"
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TEN HOURS AGO! WHAT HAPPENED?"
"I-It's a long story. I'm here at the Sky Gate."
"What was that? I can't hear you, dude, you're breaking up! The Sky Gate? Did you say the Sky Gate?"
"Yes, I'm here at the--"
"BUT THAT'S OVER SIX HOURS AWAY! What're you doing all the way over there!?"
"I had some urgent business that needed taking care of."
"Urgent business!? What could possibly be more urgent than--"
"Jeri, I'm gonna have to call you back. Give me ten minutes, alright? I'll call you back on my way out of here."
"Wait, no, Cyrus, don't go! I--"

Cyrus closed the clamshell shut. Celes sighed. That Jericho ...

But Jeri was right. Cyrus didn't have time to stick around here. He'd have preferred to have handed the Slowpoke over to Alice in person, but this was an urgent matter too, and now that Slowpoke was in safe hands here at the Pokémon Center ...

"Um, excuse me. Nurse Joy?"
"Yes, Cyrus? What is it?"
"Do you have a piece of paper and a pen I could borrow?"
"Um, yes, let me look ..." she answered, rummaging through some drawers. "Here you go," she said, handing him a pen and a blank sheet of paper.
"Thanks," Cyrus said, and he walked over to the couch in the lobby, leaning forward to write on the piece of paper placed on top of the table there. Celes followed and looked up inquisitvely.
"I'm writing a letter to this Alice girl," Cyrus explained, "explaining the situation to her."

Cyrus wrote down a little bit about the adventure that had led him to the edge of the forest, about the trip to the Center, about the phone call with Professor Micklewhite, and finally about Slowpoke and how she could obtain it from Nurse Joy. He then went over to Nurse Joy, handed her the letter, and explained the situation. Handing over the purple PokéBall containing Slowpoke and entrusting it to Nurse Joy's care, Cyrus zipped up his winter coat, headed for the door, and pulled out his Pokégear once more. Celes followed along by his side, sorry for the Slowpoke but relieved for her master's sake.

I hope you enjoyed this surprise. This post was a bit of an out-of-chronological-order treat for you since I've yet to formally RP my Torchic interacting with anybody on the team (this was the first) and since I'd like to formally introduce her to the others, which I guess might happen in my adventure with Yuki and Morg when I ever resume that ._.. But I figured this would be a fun little treat, both for me to look back on in the future and for you as well since it's been so long since I've written you an update in the FFA Zone. Feel free to completely ignore this story if you like and want to craft you own backstory for Slowpoke. (I do not mind at all!) And feel free to utilize this story as a springboard if you like. Sorry I didn't give you a chance to meet me in person or to RP back with me, but the Cable Club ultimately is not a zone and so isn't the best place to do back-and-forth dialogue RPing. I wouldn't want to RP words into your mouth, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to do the same to me, so I decided leaving you a letter for you to read and allowing you to decide how your character would handle it would be best. (Speaking of which, apologies if anything presented here, like your connection with the concocted Prof. Micklewhite, steps on your RP toes any. Feel free to erase any and all such toe-stepping material.) And if you don't feel like writing up an RP reply, you don't have to. No pressure!

The Slowpoke is as per our original agreement, and the candies and coins are a Christmas treat from me to you as a reward for your sincerity towards Slowpoke and to also hopefully help you get your bank accounts going again.

MERRYCHRISTMAS!

Last edited by Talon87; 12-24-2012 at 03:14 AM.
Reason: added in the pink Slowpoke text from my member post for your convenience